Smart broadcasting device

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for broadcasting audio. In one aspect, the method includes receiving, from a server by a smart broadcasting device associated with a service client, an audio broadcast instruction; in response to receiving the audio broadcast instruction, downloading an audio file corresponding to the audio broadcast instruction, wherein the audio file comprises a marketing content related to services provided by the server to the service client associated with the smart broadcasting device; and broadcasting, by the smart broadcasting device, the audio file by using a speaker of the smart broadcasting device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityof U.S. patent Application Ser. No. 17/194,888, filed Mar. 8, 2021,which is a continuation of U.S. patent Application Ser. No. 16/810,785,filed Mar. 5, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,943,272, which is acontinuation of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2018/116108, filed on Nov. 19,2018, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201711484238.6, filed on Dec. 29, 2017, and each application is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This specification relates to the field of computer application, and inparticular, to an audio broadcast method, apparatus and system and asmart broadcast device.

BACKGROUND

In some scenarios, a user can usually interact with a background serverthrough a service client equipped on a mobile terminal to complete somecorresponding business operations online. For a service provider of thebackground server who provides a service to the service client, inaddition to a need to interact with the service client on a user sidethrough the background server and push service information related to acarried service operation to the service client, usually, some marketinginformation related to a service carried on the service client will alsobe pushed to the user through the service client. Therefore, inpractical application, how to push these marketing information to theuser in a more personalized and intuitive manner is of significance toimprove both of the marketing effect of the service provider and theuser experience.

SUMMARY

The present specification provides an audio broadcast method, applied toan smart broadcast device, the method including: receiving an audiobroadcast instruction pushed by a server; in response to the audiobroadcast instruction, downloading an audio file corresponding to theaudio broadcast instruction, wherein the audio file includes a marketingcontent related to a service carried on a service client interfacingwith the server; and broadcasting the audio file through an equippedaudio player.

Optionally, receiving the audio broadcast instruction pushed by theserver includes: receiving the audio broadcast instruction pushed by theserver through an encrypted data connection channel.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction includes a file namecorresponding to the audio file, and a download address corresponding tothe audio file; downloading the audio file corresponding to the audiobroadcast instruction includes: searching locally to determine whetheran audio file corresponding to the file name in the audio broadcastinstruction is stored; and if an audio file corresponding to the filename is not stored locally, downloading the corresponding audio filebased on the download address in the audio broadcast instruction.

Optionally, the audio file is stored on a third-party storage platformseparate from the server.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction further includes averification value generated based on an original file content of theaudio file; before broadcasting the audio file through the equippedaudio player, the method further includes: performing a calculation on afile content of the downloaded audio file, to determine a verificationvalue; determining whether the determined verification value matches averification value in the audio file; and if the acquired verificationvalue matches the verification value in the audio file, broadcasting theaudio file through the equipped audio player.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction is proactively pushed by theserver based on a configuration, or pushed by the server upon beingtriggered by receiving an interface invocation with respect to anApplication Programming Interface (API) related to the service, which isinitiated by the service client.

The present specification further provides an audio broadcast apparatus,applied to an smart broadcast device, the apparatus including: areceiving module, configured to receive an audio broadcast instructionpushed by a server; a download module, configured to, in response to theaudio broadcast instruction, download an audio file corresponding to theaudio broadcast instruction, wherein the audio file includes a marketingcontent related to a service carried on a service client interfacingwith the server; and a broadcast module, configured to broadcast theaudio file through an equipped audio player.

Optionally, the receiving module is further configured to: receive theaudio broadcast instruction pushed by the server through an encrypteddata connection channel.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction includes a file namecorresponding to the audio file, and a download address corresponding tothe audio file; the download module is further configured to: searchlocally to determine whether an audio file corresponding to the filename in the audio broadcast instruction is stored; and if an audioinstruction corresponding to the file name is not stored locally,download the corresponding audio file based on the download address inthe audio broadcast instruction.

Optionally, the audio file is stored on a third-party storage platformseparate from the server.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction further includes generatinga verification value based on an original file content of the audiofile; the download module is further configured to: before broadcastingthe downloaded audio file through the equipped audio player, perform acalculation on a file content of the audio file to acquire averification value; determine whether the acquired verification valuematches a verification value in the audio file; and if the acquiredverification value matches the verification value in the audio file,broadcast the audio file through the equipped audio player.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction is actively pushed by theserver based on a configuration, or pushed by the server in a triggeringmanner upon receiving an interface invoking with respect to an APIrelated to the service, which is initiated by the service client.

The present specification further provides an audio broadcast system,including: a server, a service client interfacing with the server, and asmart broadcast device interfacing with the server, wherein, the serveris configured to transmit an audio broadcast instruction to the smartbroadcast device, wherein the audio broadcast instruction is used totrigger the smart broadcast device to download an audio filecorresponding to a marketing content related to a service carried on theservice client; the smart broadcast device is configured to, in responseto the audio broadcast instruction, download the audio file, andbroadcast the audio file through an equipped audio player.

Optionally, the server is further configured to: actively push the audiobroadcast instruction to the smart broadcast device based on aconfiguration; or upon receiving an interface invoking with respect toan API related to the service initiated by the service client, push theaudio broadcast instruction to the smart broadcast device in atriggering manner.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction includes a file namecorresponding to the audio file, and a download address corresponding tothe audio file; the smart broadcast device is further configured to:search locally to determine whether an audio file corresponding to thefile name in the audio broadcast instruction is stored; and if an audiofile audio instruction corresponding to the file name is not storedlocally, download the corresponding audio file based on the downloadaddress in the audio broadcast instruction.

Optionally, the system further includes: a third-party storage platform,configured to store the audio file corresponding to the audio broadcastinstruction; the smart broadcast device is further configured to:download the corresponding audio file from the third-party storageplatform based on the download address in the audio broadcastinstruction.

Optionally, the audio broadcast instruction further includes averification value generated based on an original file content of theaudio file; the smart broadcast device is further configured to: beforebroadcasting the audio file through the equipped audio player, perform acalculation on a file content of the downloaded audio file to acquire averification value; determine whether the acquired verification valuematches a verification value in the audio file; and if the acquiredverification value matches the verification value in the audio file,broadcast the audio file through the equipped audio player.

The present specification further provides a smart broadcast device,including: a processor; a memory for storing machine executableinstructions; wherein, by reading and executing the machine executableinstructions corresponding to a control logic of an audio broadcaststored in the memory, the processor is caused to: receive an audiobroadcast instruction pushed by a server; in response to the audiobroadcast instruction, download an audio file corresponding to the audiobroadcast instruction, wherein the audio file includes a marketingcontent related to a service carried on a service client interfacingwith the server; and broadcast the audio file through an equipped audioplayer.

According to the technical solutions provided by the examples of thepresent specification, in one aspect, online audio broadcasting themarketing content related to the service carried on the service clientinterfacing with the server by means of the smart broadcast deviceinterfacing with the server can more humanly and intuitively push themarketing content to the user and help to improve user experience. Inanother aspect, since online interaction is not required any longerbetween the smart broadcast device and the service client, decouplingbetween the smart broadcast device and the service client isfundamentally achieved, so that the server, by transmitting the audiobroadcast instruction to the smart broadcast device, can trigger thesmart broadcast device to download the audio file corresponding to theaudio broadcast instruction and locally audio broadcast the audio file,thereby reducing the implementation complexity when the server pushesthe marketing content to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an audio broadcast method, accordingto an example implementation of the present specification.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram illustrating an audio broadcast system,according to an example implementation of the present specification.

FIG. 3 is an interaction diagram illustrating a server pushing amarketing content to smart broadcast hardware, according to an exampleimplementation of the present specification.

FIG. 4 is a hardware structural diagram illustrating an electronicdevice carrying an audio broadcast apparatus, according to an exampleimplementation of the present specification.

FIG. 5 is a logic block diagram illustrating an audio broadcastapparatus, according to an example implementation of the presentspecification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLES

The present specification is intended to provide a technical solution ofonline audio broadcasting a marketing content related to a servicecarried on a service client interfacing with a server by means of asmart broadcast device interfacing with the server.

Before or during the implementation, the smart broadcast device canestablish a data connection with the server to serve as an instructionchannel for reception of an instruction from the server. The serviceclient can also establish a data connection with the server to serve asan interaction channel for business interaction between the serviceclient and the server. The smart broadcast device may, but need not,maintain any form of data connection with the service client.

The server, when pushing the marketing content related to the servicecarried on the service client to a user through the smart broadcastdevice, can push an audio broadcast instruction to the smart broadcastdevice through the instruction channel. The audio broadcast instructionis configured to trigger the smart broadcast device to download an audiofile corresponding to the marketing content. The smart broadcast device,when receiving the audio broadcast instruction, can, in response to theaudio broadcast instruction, download an audio file corresponding to theaudio broadcast instruction, and play the audio file through an equippedaudio player after completing the download.

In the above technical solution, in one aspect, online audiobroadcasting the marketing content related to the service carried on theservice client interfacing with the server, by means of the smartbroadcast device directly interfacing with the server, can more humanlyand intuitively push the marketing content to the user and help toimprove user experience.

In another aspect, since online interaction is not required any longerbetween the smart broadcast device and the service client, decouplingbetween the smart broadcast device and the service client isfundamentally achieved, so that the server, by transmitting the audiobroadcast instruction to the smart broadcast device, can trigger thesmart broadcast device to actively download the audio file correspondingto the audio broadcast instruction and locally audio broadcast the audiofile, thereby reducing the implementation complexity when the serverpushes the marketing content to the user.

The specification will be described hereinafter through specificexamples and in combination with specific application scenarios.

FIG. 1 shows an audio broadcast method according to an example of thepresent specification, which is applied to an audio broadcast system.The audio broadcast system includes a server, a service clientinterfacing with the server, and a smart broadcast device interfacingwith the server, and performs the following steps.

At step 102, the server transmits an audio broadcast instruction to thesmart broadcast device, wherein the audio broadcast instruction is usedto trigger the smart broadcast device to download an audio filecorresponding to a marketing content related to a service carried on theservice client.

At step 104, in response to the audio broadcast instruction, the smartbroadcast device downloads the audio file corresponding to the audiobroadcast instruction.

At step 106, the smart broadcast device broadcasts the audio filethrough an equipped audio player.

The smart broadcast device can include any form and shape of smartbroadcast device with an audio broadcast function. In practicalapplication, the smart broadcast device can be managed, owned,standardized and customized uniformly by a service providercorresponding to the service client, so that the smart broadcast devicecan be connected with a background server corresponding to the serviceclient.

For example, in a scenario, the service client can be a payment client(such as an APP), and the service provider of the payment client canconnect the smart broadcast device with a background payment server at abusiness level to realize interconnection and interworking between thesmart broadcast device and the payment server, and thereby, the paymentserver can push marketing contents related to payment services carriedon the payment client to the user in form of audio broadcast through thesmart broadcast device.

The marketing contents can include any form of service contentscustomized by the service provider of the service client and related tothe service carried on the service client. For example, the marketingcontent described in this specification can be covered in all marketingcontents pushed by the server to the service client in traditionalmarketing content pushing manners.

In this specification, the marketing content can include the followingtwo types.

One is a service prompt content that can reflect a service executionstate during the service interaction between the server and the serviceclient. For example, the service client is the payment client previouslydescribed. In this case, the marketing content can include a paymentprompt content, such as a successful receipt prompt content and asuccessful payment prompt content, pushed by the server to the user whenthe user interacts with the server through the payment client tocomplete online payment.

The other is a promotion content customized by the service provider ofthe service client and related to the service carried on the serviceclient. For example, the service client is still the payment client. Inthis case, the marketing content can include a promotion content relatedto a payment service customized by the service provider of the paymentclient, such as special offers and a push content related to a promotionactivity.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram illustrating an audio broadcast systemaccording to the present specification.

As shown in FIG. 2, the audio broadcast system can include nodes such asa server, a service client interfacing with the server, and a smartbroadcast device interfacing with the server.

The server provides service support to the service client and the smartbroadcast device. In one aspect, the user can perform correspondingbusiness interaction with the server through the service client tocomplete daily online business operations. In another aspect, the usercan deploy the smart broadcast device in an offline environment where itis located, and use the smart broadcast device to audio broadcast themarketing content pushed by the server and related to the servicecarried on the service client.

For example, the service client is a payment client of an offlinemerchant. In one aspect, the offline merchant can interact with abackground payment server through the payment client to completecorresponding offline payment operation. In another aspect, the offlinemerchant can deploy a smart broadcast device in an environment where themerchant is located, and use the smart broadcast device to broadcast, tothe merchant and other customers, a marketing content related to apayment service pushed by the server.

The service client can provide the user with various portals related tothe service carried thereon through a visual user interface. The usercan trigger corresponding portal to trigger the service client toperform business interaction with the server to complete correspondingbusiness function.

The service client is associated with the smart broadcast device. Invarious implementations, the association can be established when theuser of the client device first launches the business interaction withthe server, e.g., before the very first audio broadcast instruction issent to the smart broadcast device by the server. For example, theassociation is established when a same user account is used to log ontoboth the client device and the smart broadcast device, when both theclient device and the smart broadcast device are connected to a samenetwork, or as identified by the client device through the APIs providedby the server.

The smart broadcast hardware is configured to receive the audiobroadcast instruction transmitted by the server, and in response to theaudio broadcast instruction, complete operations such as downloading andbroadcasting of an audio file corresponding to the audio broadcastinstruction in a local operating environment.

In this specification, the smart broadcast device can be equipped with aprocessor such as a microcontroller unit (MCU), communication hardware,or an audio player.

The processor can maintain a connection with the communication hardwareand the audio player at the same time. The specific connection method isnot described in detail in this specification.

The communication hardware is configured to communicate with the outsidethrough a wireless and/or wired connection. The smart broadcast devicecan communicate with an external device through the communicationhardware to complete operations such as receiving an instruction anddownloading an audio file.

In practical application, the communication hardware can be wirelesscommunication hardware or wired communication hardware; or thecommunication hardware can also be hardware that integrates both awireless communication function and a wired communication function.

In an example, the communication hardware can be WI-FI hardware such asa WI-FI chip. The smart broadcast device can access a WI-FI hotspot inan offline place through the WI-FI hardware, to establish a wirelessconnection with the server, and wirelessly communicate with a server ofthe offline shopping place through the wireless connection.

The audio player includes a player for decoding an audio file at asoftware level, and a speaker for receiving an invoking instruction ofthe processor at a hardware level, to audio broadcast an audio filedownloaded locally by the smart broadcast device. The specific type ofthe player is not particularly limited in this specification. Any formof players that can be adapted to the format of the audio filedownloaded locally, for example, a more general MP3 player, can beadopted.

The technical solution of the present specification will be described indetail below in conjunction with the system structure shown in FIG. 2.

In an initial state, the smart broadcast hardware can communicate withthe server through the equipped communication hardware, and establish adata connection to serve as an instruction channel for receiving aninstruction from the server. With respect to the payment client, it isalso possible to communicate with the server through communicationhardware carried on a mobile terminal where the payment client islocated, and establish a data connection to serve as an interactionchannel when performing business interaction between the service clientand the server.

The specific type of the data connection is not particularly limited inthis specification, and be a long connection or a short connectioncreated based on any type of communication protocol, for example, a longconnection and a short connection based on a TCP protocol, a longconnection and a short connection based on an http/https protocol, etc.

It should be noted that, in this specification, the smart broadcastdevice can directly perform business connection with the server, and theservice client and the smart broadcast device may not maintain any formof data connection so as to achieve the decoupling between the smartbroadcast device and the service client in real sense.

For example, in traditional pushing methods, the marketing content isusually pushed directly from the server to the service client, and isoutput to the user through the visual user interface carried on theservice client; or, the service client forwards the marketing contentpushed by the server to the smart broadcast device in a manner of shortdistance wireless communication through a short distance wirelessconnection kept with the smart broadcast device such as a WI-FIconnection or a Bluetooth connection to perform audio broadcast. In thisspecification, the smart broadcast device can be directly interconnectedwith the server, and receive marketing information related to theservice carried on the service client only through the server. Theserver no longer needs to forward the marketing information to the smartbroadcast device through the service client for audio broadcast.

The server, when pushing the marketing content related to the servicecarried on the service client to a user through the smart broadcastdevice, can push an audio broadcast instruction to the smart broadcastdevice through the instruction channel. The audio broadcast instructionis configured to trigger the smart broadcast device to download an audiofile corresponding to the marketing content. The smart broadcast device,when receiving the audio broadcast instruction, can, in response to theaudio broadcast instruction, download an audio file corresponding to theaudio broadcast instruction, and play the audio file through an equippedaudio player after completing the download.

Of course, in practical application, the server can also use the mannerof directly pushing the audio file corresponding to the marketingcontent to the smart broadcast device to transmit the audio file to theaudio broadcast apparatus for audio broadcast, which will not bedescribed in detail in this specification.

In this specification, a triggering method for the server to push theaudio broadcast instruction to the smart broadcast device can includethe following two cases.

In one case, the server can trigger to actively push the audio broadcastinstruction to the smart broadcast device based on system configuration.

During the implementation, the background operating staff of the servercan manually configure the related marketing content and audio broadcastinstruction in the system background based on specific marketing needs.After the system carried on the server detects the configuration of theoperating staff, the pushing of the audio broadcast instruction to thesmart broadcast device can be immediately triggered.

For example, the marketing content is the promotion content customizedby the service provider of the service client and related to the servicecarried on the service client. In this case, the operating staff canmanually configure the related promotion content in the systembackground of the server. When the system detects the promotion contentconfigured by the user, the pushing of the audio broadcast instructionto the smart broadcast device can be immediately triggered.

In another case, when the service client initiates an interface invokingwith respect to an API related to the service carried on the serviceclient, the server can trigger the pushing of the smart broadcastinstruction to the smart broadcast device.

During the implementation, the server can provide corresponding APIsrespectively for various functions corresponding to services carried onthe service client. The service client can, in response to thetriggering operation performed by the user on a particular portal in auser interface, initiate, to the server, an interface invoking of theAPI corresponding to the business function triggered by the user. Theinterface invoking request initiated by the service client can beobtained from the server by monitoring the API. The server, aftermonitoring the request to invoke the API, can immediately trigger thepushing of the smart broadcast instruction to the smart broadcastdevice, so as to trigger the smart broadcast device to download thepromotion content.

For example, the marketing content is the service prompt content thatcan reflect the service execution state during the service interactionbetween the server and the service client. In this case, the server canmonitor the API to obtain the interface invoking request initiated bythe service client. After monitoring the request to invoke any of theAPIs, the pushing of the service prompt content that can reflect theservice execution state of the service corresponding to the API to thesmart broadcast device can be triggered. For example, the service clientis the payment client. Assuming that the payment client invokes an APIcorresponding to a payment receipt function, the promotion content canbe prompt content of successful receipt of a payment. The server, afterinvoking the API to complete corresponding receipt process, can push thesmart broadcast instruction to the smart broadcast device, to triggerthe smart broadcast device to download the successful receipt promptcontent.

FIG. 3 is an interaction diagram illustrating a server pushing marketingcontent to smart broadcast hardware, according to the presentspecification.

As shown in FIG. 3, in an example, the content included in a smartbroadcast instruction pushed by the server to a smart broadcast devicecan include a fileID, a URL, and a verification value.

The fileID indicates a file name of an audio file corresponding to themarketing content, and the fileID can uniquely identify one audio file.

The URL indicates a remote storage address of the audio filecorresponding to the marketing content. The smart broadcast device canaccess the URL address through an http protocol or an http protocol, todownload the audio file.

The verification value is a verification value obtained by the servercalculating an original content of the audio file based on a particularverification value algorithm, and is configured to perform an integrityverification on the original content of the audio file to prevent theoriginal content of the audio file from being tampered with.

The specific type of the verification value algorithm is notparticularly limited in this specification. For example, theverification value can be an MD5 signature obtained by calculating theoriginal content of the audio file using an MD5 algorithm; or, it canalso be a hash value obtained by calculating the original content of theaudio file using a hash algorithm, which will not be listed one by onein this specification.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, the smart broadcast device can receivethe audio broadcast instruction pushed by the smart broadcast devicethrough an instruction channel between the smart broadcast device andthe server. In order to ensure the security of the pushed audiobroadcast instruction, in an example, a data connection between thesmart broadcast device and the server can also be encrypted based on apredetermined encryption algorithm to create a secure instructionchannel, and the audio broadcast instruction pushed by the server isreceived based on the secure instruction channel.

The smart broadcast device, when receiving the smart broadcastinstruction pushed by the server, can parse the content carried in thesmart broadcast instruction, and download the audio file correspondingto the smart broadcast instruction based on the content carried in thesmart broadcast instruction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the smart broadcast device can first read the fileIDof the audio file carried in the smart broadcast instruction, and searchlocally based on the fileID to determine whether an audio filecorresponding to the fileID has been stored locally.

If the file corresponding to the fileID has been stored locally, at thistime, a successful downloading identifier can be fed back to the server,and an equipped audio player is directly invoked to play the audio file.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, if the file corresponding to the fileIDis not stored locally, at this time, a URL address carried in the smartbroadcast instruction can be further read, and the audio filecorresponding to the smart broadcast instruction is downloaded remotelyby accessing the URL address.

In order to prompt the security of the audio file and prevent the audiofile from being tampered with, in this specification, the audio file canbe stored on a third-party storage platform separate from the server.For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the audio file can be stored on athird-party cloud storage platform separate from the server.

Of course, in practical application, the audio file can also be storedon the server, which is not particularly limited in this specification.

In this case, the instruction channel for the smart broadcast device toreceive the smart broadcast instruction can be isolated from thedownload channel for the smart broadcast device to download the audiofile, so that the smart broadcast device can complete the reception ofthe instruction and the downloading of the audio file through differentchannels. In this multi-channel manner, a probability for the audio fileto be stolen and tampered with because the channel faces a risk ofsecurity can be largely reduced.

When the smart broadcast device downloads the audio file from the cloudplatform based on the URL address, any file transfer protocol or methodcan be adopted, and a maximum number of downloads can be setsimultaneously. If the downloading is not successful within thespecified number of downloads, the smart broadcast device can return adownload failure indicator to the server.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, if the smart broadcast devicesuccessfully downloads the audio file from the cloud storage platform,at this time, the smart broadcast device can further read theverification value carried in the smart broadcast instruction and verifythe integrity of the downloaded audio file based on the verificationvalue.

Specifically, the smart broadcast device can use the same verificationalgorithm to perform a verification calculation on the downloaded audiofile to acquire a verification value, and then use the acquiredverification value to match the verification value carried in the audiobroadcast instruction.

If the acquired verification value is the same as the verification valuecarried in the audio broadcast instruction, at this time, the integrityverification is passed, indicating that the original content of theaudio file has not been tampered with. In this case, in one aspect, theaudio broadcast device can store the audio file locally. In anotheraspect, the audio broadcast device can directly invoke the equippedaudio player to play the audio file. If the playing is successful, asuccessful play identifier can be returned to the server. If the playingis not successful, an unsuccessful play identifier can be returned tothe server.

If the acquired verification value is not the same as the verificationvalue carried in the audio broadcast instruction, at this time, theintegrity verification is not passed, indicating that the originalcontent of the audio file can have been tampered with or not becompletely downloaded during the downloading. In this case, the audiobroadcast device can directly return an integrity verification failureindicator to the server. Then the audio file is re-downloaded from thecloud storage platform based on the URL address, and the verificationprocess shown above is re-performed after the downloading is complete.

It can be known from the above technical solutions that, in thisspecification, in one aspect, online audio broadcasting the marketingcontent related to the service carried on the service client interfacingwith the server, by means of the smart broadcast device interfacing withthe server, can more humanly and intuitively push the marketing contentto the user and help to improve user experience.

In another aspect, since online interaction is not required any longerbetween the smart broadcast device and the service client, decouplingbetween the smart broadcast device and the service client isfundamentally achieved, so that the server, by transmitting the audiobroadcast instruction to the smart broadcast device, can trigger thesmart broadcast device to download the audio file corresponding to theaudio broadcast instruction and locally audio broadcast the audio file,thereby reducing the implementation complexity when the server pushesthe marketing content to the user.

Corresponding to the method examples, the present specification alsoprovides audio broadcast apparatus examples. The audio broadcastapparatus examples of this specification can be applied to an electronicdevice. The electronic device can be a smart broadcast device.

The apparatus examples can be implemented by software or by hardware orby a combination of software and hardware. Taking softwareimplementation as an example, as a logical apparatus, it is formed by aprocessor of an electronic device, where it is located, readingcorresponding computer program instructions in a non-volatile memoryinto a memory for execution. In terms of hardware, as shown in FIG. 4,which is a hardware structural diagram illustrating an electronic devicewhere an audio broadcast apparatus is located according to the presentspecification, in addition to a processor, a memory, a networkinterface, a speaker, communication hardware, and a non-volatile memoryshown in FIG. 4, the electronic device where the apparatus is located inthe examples can usually further include other hardware based on theactual function of the electronic device, which will not be describedherein again.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an audio broadcast apparatusaccording to an example of the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 5, an audio broadcast apparatus 50 can be applied toan electronic device shown in FIG. 4, and includes a receiving module501, a download module 502, and a broadcast module 503.

The receiving module 501 receives an audio broadcast instruction pushedby a server.

The download module 502, in response to the audio broadcast instruction,downloads an audio file corresponding to the audio broadcastinstruction, wherein the audio file includes a marketing content relatedto a service carried on a service client interfacing with the server.

The broadcast module 503 broadcasts the audio file through an equippedaudio player.

In this example, the receiving module 501 receives the audio broadcastinstruction pushed by the server through an encrypted data connectionchannel.

In this example, the audio broadcast instruction includes a file namecorresponding to the audio file, and a download address corresponding tothe audio file; the download module 502 searches locally to determinewhether an audio file corresponding to the file name in the audiobroadcast instruction is stored; and if an audio file corresponding tothe file name is not stored locally, downloads the corresponding audiofile based on the download address in the audio broadcast instruction.

In this example, the audio file is stored on a third-party storageplatform separate from the server.

In this example, the audio broadcast instruction further includes averification value generated based on an original file content of theaudio file; the download module 502, before broadcasting the downloadedaudio file through the equipped audio player, performs a calculation ona file content of the audio file to acquire a verification value;determines whether the acquired verification value matches averification value in the audio file; and if the acquired verificationvalue matches the verification value in the audio file, broadcasts theaudio file through the equipped audio player.

In this example, the audio broadcast instruction is actively pushed bythe server based on a configuration, or pushed by the server in atriggering manner upon receiving an interface invoking with respect toan API related to the service, which is initiated by the service client.

For details about the implementation process of functions and roles ofmodules in the above apparatus, reference can be made to theimplementation process of corresponding steps in the above method, whichwill not be described herein again.

Corresponding to the method examples, the present specification alsoprovides electronic device examples. The electronic device includes: aprocessor, and a memory for storing machine executable instructions,wherein the processor and the memory are usually connected to each othervia an internal bus. In other possible implementations, the device canfurther include an external interface to enable communication with otherdevices or components.

In this example, by reading and executing the machine executableinstructions corresponding to a control logic of an audio broadcaststored in the memory, the processor is configured to: receive an audiobroadcast instruction pushed by a server; in response to the audiobroadcast instruction, download an audio file corresponding to the audiobroadcast instruction, wherein the audio file includes a marketingcontent related to a service carried on a service client interfacingwith the server; and broadcast the audio file through an equipped audioplayer.

In this example, by reading and executing the machine executableinstructions corresponding to a control logic of an audio broadcaststored in the memory, the processor is further configured to: receivethe audio broadcast instruction pushed by the server through anencrypted data connection channel.

In this example, the audio broadcast instruction includes a file namecorresponding to the audio file, and a download address corresponding tothe audio file; by reading and executing the machine executableinstructions corresponding to a control logic of an audio broadcaststored in the memory, the processor is further configured to: searchlocally to determine whether an audio file corresponding to the filename in the audio broadcast instruction is stored; and if an audio filecorresponding to the file name is not stored locally, download thecorresponding audio file based on the download address in the audiobroadcast instruction.

In this example, the audio broadcast instruction further includes averification value generated based on an original file content of theaudio file; by reading and executing the machine executable instructionscorresponding to a control logic of an audio broadcast stored in thememory, the processor is further configured to:

before broadcasting the audio file through the equipped audio player,perform a calculation on a file content of the downloaded audio file toacquire a verification value; determine whether the acquiredverification value matches a verification value in the audio file; andif the acquired verification value matches the verification value in theaudio file, broadcast the audio file through the equipped audio player.

The specific examples of the present specification have been describedabove. Other examples fall within the scope of the appended claims. Insome cases, actions or steps described in the claims can be performed ina different order from that in the examples, and a desired result canstill be achieved. In addition, the processes depicted in the drawingsdo not necessarily require the shown particular order or consecutiveorder to achieve the desired results. In some examples, multi-taskprocessing and parallel processing are also possible or can beadvantageous.

The examples in this specification are described in a progressivemanner, and the same or similar parts between the examples can refer toeach other. Each example focuses on differences from other examples. Inparticular, with respect to the examples of the apparatus, system,electronic device, and non-volatile computer storage medium, since theyare basically similar to the method examples, the description thereof isrelatively simple. For the related parts, reference can be made to thedescription of the method examples.

It can be known from the description of the examples that a person ofordinary skill in the art clearly understands the examples of thepresent specification can be implemented by means of software and anecessary universal hardware platform. Based on such understanding, thetechnical solutions according to the examples of the presentspecification in essence or a part thereof that contributes to theexisting technology can be embodied in form of a software product. Thecomputer software product can be stored in a storage medium such as anROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk, and include a number ofinstructions for causing a computer equipment, which can be a personalcomputer, a server, or a network device, etc., to execute the methodsdescribed in each of or some examples of the present specification.

The system, apparatus, module, or unit illustrated in the above examplescan be implemented by using a computer chip or an entity, or by using aproduct having a certain function. A typical implementation device is acomputer, and the specific form of the computer can be a personalcomputer, a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a camera phone, asmartphone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a navigationdevice, an email receiving and sending device, a game console, a tabletcomputer, a wearable device, or any combination of these devices.

The examples in this specification are described in a progressivemanner, and the same or similar parts between the examples can refer toeach other. Each example focuses on differences from other examples. Inparticular, with respect to the apparatus examples, since they arebasically similar to the method examples, the description thereof isrelatively simple. For the related parts, reference can be made to thedescription of the method examples. The apparatus examples describedabove are merely illustrative, wherein the modules described as separatecomponents may or may not be physically separated. During theimplementation of the solutions according to the examples of the presentspecification, the function of each module can be realized in the sameone or more software and/or hardware. Some or all of the modules can beselected according to actual needs to achieve the objectives ofsolutions in the examples. Those of ordinary skill in the art canunderstand and implement the present specification without any creativeeffort.

The above are only specific embodiments of the examples of the presentspecification. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill inthe art, without departing from the principle of the examples of thepresent specification, some improvements and modifications can be made.These improvements and modifications should also be regarded to fallwithin the protection scope of the examples of the presentspecification.

1.-21. (canceled)
 22. A computer-implemented method comprising:establishing, by a background server, a first data connection with abroadcast device, including establishing a server instruction channelbetween the background server and the broadcast device; establishing, bythe background server, a second data connection with a client device,including establishing a client instruction channel between thebackground server and the client device; receiving, at the backgroundserver and through the client instruction channel, an invocation forbroadcasting client-specified content that is specified by the clientdevice; pushing, by the background server and through the serverinstruction channel, a broadcast instruction to the broadcast device,wherein the broadcast instruction identifies an file corresponding tothe client-specified content; and in response to receiving the broadcastinstruction, broadcasting, by the broadcast device, contents of the fileusing the broadcasting device.
 23. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 22, wherein the broadcast device does not maintainany form of data connection with the client device.
 24. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 22, wherein broadcastingthe contents of the file comprises: downloading, by the broadcastdevice, the file identified in the broadcast instruction that is pushedby the background server from a third-party storage platform that isseparate from the background server.
 25. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 24, wherein downloading the file from the third-partystorage platform comprises: downloading, by the broadcast device, thefile from the third-party storage platform by using a remote storageaddress of the file that is included in the broadcast instruction. 26.The computer-implemented method according to claim 25, wherein theremote storage address is a URL address.
 27. The computer-implementedmethod according to claim 22, wherein broadcasting the contents of thefile comprises: performing, by the broadcast device, a local search offiles stored on the broadcast device to determine whether the fileidentified in the broadcast instruction is stored locally at thebroadcast device.
 28. The computer-implemented method according to claim22, wherein the server instruction channel is an encrypted communicationchannel.
 29. The computer-implemented method according to claim 22,wherein the broadcast instruction further comprises a verification valuegenerated based on original content of the file corresponding to theclient-specified content.
 30. The computer-implemented method accordingto claim 29, wherein the verification value comprises a MD5 signatureobtained by calculating the original content of the file using an MD5algorithm.
 31. The computer-implemented method according to claim 29,wherein the verification value comprises a hash value obtained bycalculating the original content of the file using a hash algorithm. 32.A system comprising: a background server comprising one or morecomputers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that areoperable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the oneor more computers to perform operations comprising: establishing, by thebackground server, a first data connection with a broadcast device,including establishing a server instruction channel between thebackground server and the broadcast device; establishing, by thebackground server, a second data connection with a client device,including establishing a client instruction channel between thebackground server and the client device; receiving, at the backgroundserver and through the client instruction channel, an invocation forbroadcasting client-specified content that is specified by the clientdevice; pushing, by the background server and through the serverinstruction channel, a broadcast instruction to the broadcast device,wherein the broadcast instruction identifies an file corresponding tothe client-specified content; and in response to receiving the broadcastinstruction, broadcasting, by the broadcast device, contents of the fileusing the broadcasting device.
 33. The system according to claim 32,wherein the broadcast device does not maintain any form of dataconnection with the client device.
 34. The system according to claim 32,wherein the server instruction channel is an encrypted communicationchannel.
 35. The system according to claim 32, wherein the broadcastinstruction further comprises a verification value generated based onoriginal content of the file corresponding to the client-specifiedcontent.
 36. The system according to claim 35, wherein the verificationvalue comprises a MD5 signature obtained by calculating the originalcontent of the file using an MD5 algorithm.
 37. The system according toclaim 35, wherein the verification value comprises a hash value obtainedby calculating the original content of the file using a hash algorithm.38. One or more non-transitory computer storage media encoded withcomputer program instructions that when executed by a background servercomprising one or more computers cause the background server to performoperations comprising: establishing, by the background server, a firstdata connection with a broadcast device, including establishing a serverinstruction channel between the background server and the broadcastdevice; establishing, by the background server, a second data connectionwith a client device, including establishing a client instructionchannel between the background server and the client device; receiving,at the background server and through the client instruction channel, aninvocation for broadcasting client-specified content that is specifiedby the client device; pushing, by the background server and through theserver instruction channel, a broadcast instruction to the broadcastdevice, wherein the broadcast instruction identifies an filecorresponding to the client-specified content; and in response toreceiving the broadcast instruction, broadcasting, by the broadcastdevice, contents of the file using the broadcasting device.
 39. Thenon-transitory computer storage media according to claim 38, wherein thebroadcast device does not maintain any form of data connection with theclient device.
 40. The non-transitory computer storage media accordingto claim 38, wherein the server instruction channel is an encryptedcommunication channel.
 41. The non-transitory computer storage mediaaccording to claim 38, wherein the broadcast instruction furthercomprises a verification value generated based on original content ofthe file corresponding to the client-specified content.